Its origin dates from 1911, nearly fifty years after the death of Dr James Barry.

Our interest in the story was first aroused on hearing that the woods near Camps Bay were haunted by a young officer in Georgian uniform. The name in life of this lonely apparition was Dr James Barry. Surrounding its supposed appear­ ances were fragments of anecdote sufficient to fire the imagination of any person, whether a writer or not. The appeal it made to us lasted over many years, in fact its first allure has never been lost.